"A call came from the Kwantung Army headquarters. The paratrooper brigade is ready and ready to go at any time!"
soon.
Haruo Kitani held a telegram in his hand and quickly walked into the war room to report to Neji Okamura.
At the request of Okamura Neiji, in order to keep the situation as secret as possible, all paratroopers and transport aircraft squadrons in Manchuria were under the direct command of the Kwantung Army Headquarters.
The time when the transport plane squadron of the paratrooper brigade took off and the location of the parachute jump were personally decided by Okamura Neiji.
Not even the deputy chief of staff, Yusumei Seizo, knew about it.
"Yoshi!"
Okamura Neji was staring at the map on the wall, thinking about the time when the paratroopers would take off and where to jump.
Hearing Haruo Kitani's voice, he turned around.
Then he personally drafted a telegram to the Kwantung Army Headquarters. In the telegram, Okamura determined the time for the paratroopers to take off and the location of the parachute jump.
"Send this telegram to the Kwantung Army Headquarters yourself!"
"Hi!"
Haruo Kitani took the telegram, turned around and left quickly.
…
Taiyuan.
First Army Headquarters.
"General."
"The commander of the North China Front, General Okamura Neiji, called back."
In the operations hall, the communications staff officer of the First Army walked in quickly and bowed his head to Yoshio Iwamatsu to report.
"read!"
Yoshio Iwamatsu was staring at the map, thinking about the retreat route, and then he waved his hand and said.
Even if Okamura Neiji disagrees, Taiyuan's troops will immediately move to Ji Province.
Yoshio Iwamatsu is also considering defeating the enemy this time and leading the remaining troops to move towards Hebei Province.
The worst case scenario is that he will be ordered to have a caesarean section to apologize, or go to a military court.
By retreating at this time, there is still a chance for tens of thousands of Locust Army soldiers to survive, but if they still defend Taiyuan, the commander of the First Army and the soldiers will have no choice but to die.
"Hi!"
The communications staff officer held the telegram in his hand and read:
"Appointed Major General Masao Miyazaki as the commander of the 3rd Mixed Brigade, and Major General Kazuki Yamamoto as deputy chief of staff of the First Army."
As soon as he finished speaking, Miyazaki Masao beside him couldn't help but look slightly happy.
Yossi!
I, Miyazaki, have become the brigade commander of the 3rd mixed brigade again!
Although there are currently only about 5,000 commanders of the mixed 3rd brigade, the brigade commander has real power, and cannot be compared to the deputy chief of staff of the group army who has little real power.
Miyazaki Masao glanced at Yamamoto Kazuki with a proud expression.
I thought that General Okamura Neiji cherished talents and knew that his tactical command ability was better than Yamamoto Kazuki.
But soon, Miyazaki Masao stopped laughing.
The communications staff officer continued: "Order the 3rd Huncheng Brigade to station in Taiyuan, the 1st Army, the 5th Division, the 28th Division, and the 1st Cavalry Brigade to immediately transfer to Hebei Province!"
"Nani?"
Miyazaki Masao's face suddenly stiffened.
Order other troops to transfer to Ji Province, and lead the 3rd Mixed Brigade to defend Taiyuan?
Miyazaki Masao suddenly felt that he was being targeted.
If you are the commander of the 3rd Mixed Brigade, there is nothing wrong with accepting this order. It is a soldier's bounden duty to obey orders.
But Okamura Neji's order was completely to let himself die and let Yamamoto Kazuki live.
Why?
At that time, several mixed brigade commanders of the First Army were killed in the battle, but Masao Miyazaki was the only one who survived to this day.
Am I going to be broken into pieces this time too?
"Yoshi!"
However, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked slightly happy, not caring about the life and death of Masao Miyazaki and the 3rd Mixed Brigade:
"From now on, Miyazaki-kun will be the commander of the 3rd mixed brigade, and Yamamoto-kun will be the deputy chief of staff of the first army."
Suddenly, Yoshio Iwamatsu saw the dissatisfied expression on Miyazaki Masao's face. His face suddenly sank and he asked loudly: "Who agrees and who opposes?"
"Hi!"
Miyazaki Masao and Yamamoto Kazuki both bowed their heads.
Yamamoto Kazuki still had a paralyzed look on his face, without any fluctuation in his expression.
Masao Miyazaki had a bitter expression on his face.
If he dares to raise objections and questions, he will definitely be shot by Yoshio Iwamatsu immediately to scare the monkeys.
"Yoshi!"
Seeing that there was no objection, Yoshio Iwamatsu showed a look of satisfaction on his face:
"Order all troops to prepare immediately, we will move to Hebei Province tonight!"
"Hi!"
All the Japanese officers lowered their heads, turned around and left quickly.
then.
Yoshio Iwamatsu patted Masao Miyazaki on the shoulder with a kind expression and tone: "Miyazaki-kun, I will leave you with sufficient food and ammunition. You only need to lead the mixed 3rd brigade to hold two positions in Taiyuan.
Month, after two months, the locust army will definitely fight back, and you will be a great hero of the empire by then, and you will definitely be promoted to lieutenant general and division commander."
"Hi!"
Miyazaki Masao suddenly lowered his head:
"I am waiting for the day when Your Majesty the Commander returns to Taiyuan."
What Miyazaki was thinking in his heart was, give me 5,000 people and you want me to hold Taiyuan?
Even if you give me 100,000 people, I can't hold it.
…
at the same time.
Cai Dongcun.
New Regiment, the Eighth Route Army's frontline headquarters.
"The Independent Regiment and the Central Hebei Military Region Headquarters received a call saying that the airdrop supplies of 2 million rounds of ammunition and 100,000 rounds of artillery shells have been received."
Wang Dehou reported to Li Yunlong:
"Boss Chen called, and there will be a wave of airdrop supplies at 3 p.m., including 2 million rounds of ammunition and 100,000 rounds of artillery shells, as well as some grenades and cans."
"I have sent a telegram to the Independence Regiment and the Central Hebei Military Region Headquarters, informing them to be ready to receive airdropped supplies at 3 p.m."
With a smile, Li Yunlong said with a satisfied look: "No less than 150,000 shells fall on the heads of the surrounded Japanese every day, which is enough for the Japanese to drink a pot."
There were less than 40,000 Japanese soldiers surrounded, and each Japanese soldier could get an average of 4 rounds of artillery shells every day.
With saturation bombardment and indiscriminate bombing from planes every day, at least half of the Japanese would be killed or injured in three days.
After all, the Japanese did not build air-raid shelters, trench fortifications or bomb-proof holes in that area.
After three days of shelling and two more days of fighting, the Independent Regiment and the fraternal troops of the Central Hebei Military Region should be able to eliminate the Japanese.
After a pause, Li Yunlong said again: "The Japanese should dispatch paratroopers in the next two days to help the surrounded Japanese break out."
The Japanese paratroopers are not large in number, but they are all elite and equipped with all types of submachine guns.
If Boss Chen had not obtained information about the departure and parachuting locations of the Japanese paratroopers, the Japanese might have been able to tear a hole in the encirclement of the Central Hebei Military Region troops.
However, Li Yunlong was not worried much.
With Boss Chen's intelligence capabilities, he has never failed so far.
"Commander, our heavy howitzers and a combined battalion have bypassed Tianlong Mountain and attacked in the direction of Taiyuan."
Wang Dehou continues to report:
"However, we can only clear out the Japanese bunkers and artillery towers north of Crouching Tiger Mountain. To reach Taiyuan City, we must first capture the Japanese positions in Crouching Tiger Mountain."
Li Yunlong stared at the map and nodded.
The last time they attacked Taiyuan, the Japanese did not pay much attention to Crouching Tiger Mountain. Li Yunlong directly led the Eighth Route Army to surround Taiyuan not long after.
Of course, it is useless for the Japanese to attach great importance to the defense of Crouching Tiger Mountain.
At that time, the Japanese did not know how to use tunnels and reverse slope tactics, and there were not many Japanese defending Taiyuan at that time. Adding the Japanese from several counties around Taiyuan, the total strength was only one mixed brigade.
Currently, some Japanese troops from the Fifth Division are stationed at Crouching Tiger Mountain and have built some concrete fortifications, as well as tunnels and reverse slope fortifications.
Not very easy to fight.
"Do not worry."
Li Yunlong's eyes were calm:
"First destroy these concrete bunkers and gun towers. This is a big business."
Now the price of a thickened reinforced concrete bunker and gun tower to kill the Japanese is 15 20mm machine guns, which is a third more than last year.
There are nearly 400 such reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers around Taiyuan. Li Yunlong feels full of energy just thinking about them.
After this battle, the Eighth Route Army will really make a fortune.
The overall strength has increased by at least two to three times.
"clear!"
Wang Dehou smiled slightly, knowing full well that this B4 heavy howitzer was prepared for the Japanese's reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers.
At this moment, a telegraph operator got out of the telegraph truck, walked into the headquarters and gave a military salute.
"Report to the head of the group, boss Chen sent a secret message!"
Li Yunlong looked happy and quickly took the telegram and read it.
The content of the telegram was a bit long, but Li Yunlong quickly finished reading it. He looked slightly happy at first, and then frowned slightly.
"Captain, is there any emergency?" Wang Dehou asked after seeing this.
Li Yunlong said: "Boss Chen gave us two pieces of information. The first piece of information is about the Japanese paratroopers, and the second piece of information is that the Japanese soldiers in Taiyuan are trying to escape."
At this moment, Zhao Gang also walked in and heard what Li Yunlong said.
Wang Dehou took the telegram from Zhao Gang and handed it to Zhao Gang after reading it.
After Zhao Gang read the telegram, he couldn't help but frown slightly.
Boss Chen's two pieces of important information were so timely.
Moreover, the intelligence content was relatively detailed. The Japanese paratroopers were preparing to parachute to the vicinity of Jingxing County in the middle of the night, and then march more than 20 kilometers to the vicinity of Niangziguan, attack the weak points of the Eighth Route Army's encirclement, and respond to the surrounded Japanese soldiers.
The Japanese were afraid that the transport plane would be shot down during the day, so they chose to parachute at night.
Parachuting at night requires someone to light a fire on the ground to guide the paratroopers in the direction. Otherwise, the paratroopers will not know where they have parachuted to and it will be difficult to assemble the troops.
The Japanese paratroopers' parachuting time is at 12 o'clock at midnight tonight.
"Old Li, I remember that our Saber fighter has night combat capabilities, right?" Zhao Gang looked at Li Yunlong.
"That's right!" Li Yunlong nodded, "Our Saber fighter is equipped with radar and can fight at night. It is an all-weather fighter."
Although the new regiment's pilots, Saber fighters, performed many combat missions at night.
But basically they provide air support to the infantry on the ground, and have never had a dogfight with Japanese fighter jets at night.
Therefore, the Saber fighter's radar has been ignored by Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang, who feel that this function is a bit useless.
Until the Japanese wanted to dispatch transport planes to transport paratroopers at night.
Zhao Gang and Li Yunlong suddenly felt that this Saber fighter was a little more fragrant.
"That's great." Zhao Gang looked slightly happy, "These Japanese transport planes and paratroopers can be handed over directly to our fighter squadron."
There was a pause.
Zhao Gang looked at another piece of information with a solemn expression and said, "But the Japanese in Taiyuan are trying to escape. This situation is not easy to handle..."